A good dog

Not the post I want to write...

We were very sad to hear that our dog Rusty died yesterday in Texas. He had only gotten sick a couple of days ago, and we are thankful that he did not suffer long. He was living with our friends, Ron & Mindy, who were so gracious to take care of him while we are living here in Spain.



Rusty was such a good & loyal dog and we have many happy memories of him. (This is us with him last year on Christmas Day - and our other dog, Rosie, in the background.) We got him from the Irving pound when he was 4 months old in July 2000. He was mainly Jason's dog and loved to follow Jason around everywhere, even underfoot if necessary so as not to miss out on whatever Dad was doing. He would lay under Jason's desk for hours, "helping" him work :-). He was so eager to please you and figure out what you wanted him to do, such a nice change from the beagle we had before him :-). He was a cocker/lab mix - his mom was a lab, so that's the only part we know for sure, but the cocker part was pretty obvious. He inherited much of the cocker breed's nervous tendencies and usually found something new to be afraid of on a weekly basis :-). He used to love tearing up "do-to-do's" (the center of a paper towel roll) until one accidentally hit him on the nose and he became mortally afraid of them forevermore. :-) We named him Rusty b/c when his hair would get long, he had brown tints on the edges of his hair. Maybe a little random for a black dog, but that's why :-).

Our hearts are very heavy today b/c we won't get to see Rusty again, but they are mostly heavy for our friends, Ron & Mindy, Andrew & Sara Beth (at left with Rusty this summer). Rusty had become their dog as well, and he loved living at their house. They have squirrels to chase in their backyard, and Mindy took Rusty in the car with her when she went to pick up the kids from school nearly every day. They also took him camping with them several times in their RV. We are so thankful to them for taking care of Rusty so well and giving him such a great last year of life. When we saw Rusty this summer, at first he didn't even recognize us (maybe his eyes were going?), but when he finally smelled us, he went crazy. As the evening wore on though, we were very happy to see that Rusty really wasn't partial to us - he followed them around as much as he followed us. So he truly felt settled in his new home. I know it will be a much harder transition for them as they get used to their house w/o him again.

I think the worst part is that we are now officially dogless... We will miss you, Rusty Roo!

much love,
J/B/K

Getting Ready for Christmas

Let me just start w/ a disclaimer that we're not going to confess how long ago these events took place.... :-) Last week I was pretty busy, but this week Katie has been sick all week so I don't have that excuse... Or maybe that is my new excuse :-)

We had a GREAT long weekend recently getting ready for Christmas. It was nice in a way b/c the Saturday of this long weekend was Spain's Constitution Day. So everything was closed and we had to stay home all day! It was just the ticket to catch up from a busy few weeks since our trip to TX. We started out the fun by making sugar cookies together - our 1st Christmas cookies of the season. It was a rare occasion that we all got to hang out in the kitchen together! :-) I think Katie enjoyed Daddy making cookies more than just Mommy - Daddy encourages a lot more sneaking of cookie dough :-)

The next night we went into downtown Madrid to see the Christmas lights. This was pretty crazy b/c it was really rainy and really cold and there are really a lot of people who wanted to do the same thing! This picture is pretty much what we could see wherever we went: a sea of people and umbrellas! We spent the evening getting pretty damp and trying not to spear people with our umbrellas. Of course, whenever I would peg someone pretty good and would apologize, they would look at me like I was crazy. I guess no one thought any apology was necessary!


This is the tree in the Puerta del Sol (where you might remember the statue of the bear & the strawberry tree is) - it was very cool looking. I think I liked the more colorful tree in the Plaza de Espana though. We have some friends from church who have just moved down into the centro so they took this 2nd pic of us. We also got to go hang out with them and have a coffee - and dry out a bit :-).

A very cool part of the Madrid decorations is their focus on Jesus!! It's really cool to see Him everywhere! One of the most beautiful light displays we saw is in the Puerta de Alcala. This is not my pic, but a pic I found from last year on the internet. It is the whole nativity scene in lights in the 3 openings of the arch. Absolutely beautiful! I've been told that there are also many elaborate nativity scenes downtown. We'll see if we brave the traffic to try to find them or not!

On the holiday Monday, we set off to find our Christmas tree. We traditionally have a real Christmas tree in TX, but here in Spain things are different. They are a bit more environmentally conscious here, so the only real trees I could find were in pots. Now that's fine if you have a garden (i.e. a yard), but since we do not, I had no idea what we would do w/ this tree after Christmas. Now the argument could be made that we have always just thrown out a perfectly fine tree after Christmas... but we won't go there :-). Also given the expense of the real trees, we just decided to buy an artificial one to use while we are in Spain. A bit strange feeling, but OK. We had a nice time putting the branches in according to the alphabetical clues and learning how to string lights that come in a circular strand. We also enjoyed hanging our ornaments from home. We didn't bring most of our Christmas decorations to Spain, but it was nice to make it feel like home w/ the ones we brought! I think it turned out pretty nice!


I think overall my prep for this Christmas season has been characterized by baking. I have noticed that I have far fewer "events" to go to since I'm not involved in as many activities here as I was in TX. (though I did get to go to a very fun party last weekend that was going strong at 1:30 AM when I left!) But I don't even know how many goodies I've baked! It's been fun - and I'm not done yet! :-) I have several more things to make - including a birthday cake for Jesus! Oh and for my daughter as well! :-) Can you believe she'll be 5 (!!) on Tuesday?!

Santa Lucia

But 1st: A picture of our mountains! We live fairly close to some absolutely gorgeous mountains! Most of the time, you can't see them, but a couple of days recently have been crisp & clear and the mountains have been literally breathtaking. There is snow on the mountains and I don't know if the snow has especially highlighted the whole range, but it seems like we've been able to see more of the mountains than ever before. We really live in a beautiful place with amazing weather. I am especially enjoying it since most of my life has been spent in unattractive TX :-).

Yesterday at Katie's (Scandanavian) school, they celebrated Santa Lucia. Not totally sure who she is (see here: Saint Lucy) but it was fun. :-) My main connection is that this is the celebration where the girls wear the white dresses with a candle wreath on their heads - a bit the stereotypical image of Sweden. I don't know if you can see the girl standing in the front of the group, but that's the image that I recognize! Apparantly they usually do this procession in the dark early in the morning, and one of the Swedish teachers was very put out that we had to do it at 10 in the morning!

Katie did get to wear a white dress and take part in a parade and several songs. I knew they were learning a song in Swedish for the occasion - but she actually learned 5 or 6 songs in Swedish! It was kind of crazy :-). A highlight was the kids singing Silent Night in Swedish, then English, then Spanish! Times like this make me shake my head at the craziness of living in the mix of cultures that we live in :-). Katie looked so cute in her little outfit and really sang along well with all the songs, no matter the language :-).


Here is Katie with her best friends from school: Frida from Denmark, then Katie before she got her glitter on, then Malin from Denmark (Frida's sister), then Ebba from Sweden. As you can see from the kiddos - Katie is attending a school full of very tall, very blond girls and women!

And now at the risk of giving you a stereotypical video of my kid in the school program - here is Katie and the other kids singing her favorite of the songs she learned in Swedish. She is in the middle between the 2 boys w/ the cone hats on (as in the picture above - & just to the left of the girl w/ the red belt on). You can see her nodding her head emphatically as she sings along :-). Enjoy!

Meeting Baby Liam!

I mentioned recently that I have just realized that several things have happened that I have not blogged about. One of these big things was getting to meet my new nephew, Liam! We left TX the week before Liam was born in August, and did not have another trip scheduled to go back. I was afraid that it would be next summer when Liam was nearly a year old before we would get to meet him. This living so far from family can be a bit yucky!





When we decided to come to TX for Vicky's surgery, we only had 1 day that we knew for sure we'd be in the Dallas area. So my brother & sister-in-law drove all the way from Fayetteville to see us that one day! It was such a gift! Fortunately, Mandy's family is in the DFW area too, so they didn't have to just turn around and head home after 1 day :-). This is me holding Liam for the 1st time, trying to hold back the tears of joy for getting to meet him while he is still small! But God knew that he wouldn't be that old when we 1st got to meet him. That is a good description of how our trip was, in fact: God bringing good things out of hard things.


Liam is so adorable and such a happy baby. I know it does not make any difference to him that Aunt Becca got to hold him, but we can show him pictures :-). Tim's been great about posting video and pics on their blog, partly for our benefit, but it was so precious to see his smiles in person!




It was also good for Katie (& us) to see her Casteel cousins and spend the day with them. In the 1st picture is Layton, 2 1/2, Lily, 7, Lacy, 4 1/2, and Katie. It happened to be Halloween, so we also got to go trick-or-treating with them. (Also in the Halloween picture is Rylee, one of Lily & Lacy's cousins on Mandy's side) The time was too short, but it was very sweet.

7 Random Things...

OK - I got tagged by my sister-in-law, Mandy, a (long!!) while ago to do this, but I'll use traveling as my excuse :-). So, finally, here are 7 random things about myself:

1. I absolutely LOVE roller coasters, though sadly it's been awhile since I've ridden one. Probably more than 5 years, actually :-).

2. The only guy I've ever kissed is my hubby (Thank you, Lord!).

3. When I was in 1st & 2nd grade, I lived in the Washington DC area. It was a great experience that I have many happy memories of. My mom likes to say we felt like tourists for 2 years - and there are many parallels between that time in my parents' life and our current adventure here in Spain. I hope that Katie will remember many things from this time of our lives, even though she's a bit younger than I was.

4. The sound of a canary singing is one of the things that gives me the most joy. One of my birthday presents last year from Jason was money to buy a canary here in Spain, but we just travel too much to justify it. And sadly, my record with keeping canaries alive is not too stellar.

5. Fall is my favorite season of the year. I think it has most to do with new pencils and notebooks :-).

6. Sometimes I find myself counting things in my head without realizing it - steps, clock chimes, times I cut a carrot with a knife, etc. I guess I was born to love Math :-).

7. When I was in 4th grade, I & 2 adults sang the lead parts in a Easter musical at our church called Alive Again. At least this is how I remember it - I think I actually only joined them on 1 song and surely there were many more... But still :-). It was a big deal at the time. I got to borrow this beautiful white dress with a fushia sash from an older friend. I truly thought I was glamorous.

OK - so now I tag these friends: Kristi, Jenn, Kelly, Tricia, Mandy M, Karen, Kristin Your turn!

Halloween

As I downloaded the pics this evening for the previous post, it occurs to me that much has happened that I have not blogged about :-). So here is a little snippet from Halloween that I thought you might enjoy. Katie was a Spanish flamenco dancer for Halloween, complete with castanets & "official" shoes. We got to go trick-or-treating with her Casteel cousins - which was truly a treat!




Another update - we are so happy to tell you that Jason's mom is still doing really well! She is healing and regaining her strength, but is in less pain all the time and feeling good. She got her stitches out 10 days ago or so and the dr is just thrilled with how much of her tumor he was able to remove and with how well she's doing. We are so thankful for the amazing things God has done for us!

December 1st

In our family, we are all about traditions, and one of those traditions helps us kick-start the Christmas season. Every year, we exchange December 1st presents - little things that help us decorate or enjoy the month of December a little bit more. I think my mom began this when I was a newlywed as a way to increase my holiday decorations. But now, we just really enjoy it and have no plans to stop! :-) The best is when we can get something at the after-Christmas sales the previous year - my sister-in-law Mandy is especially good at doing this! I highly recommend this tradition - it's a lot of fun! Oh, and Jason would want me to mention that this is a women & children only exchange. :-)

My sweet family did not forget us even though we are in Spain (tho I'm sad to say that I didn't return the favor by remembering to get something for them...). So Katie & I enjoyed opening a little something from Aunt Mandy & Mimi today. Katie got the adorable plate and place mat pictured above from Mimi while my mom gave me some great Christmas soap in a gingerbread container. (the picture above of me was taken by Katie) Aunt Mandy & cousins sent Katie a cute reindeer and some cool foamy Christmas soap that you can play with :-). Mandy sent me some new plastic Christmas glasses - which I love! We already used our new dishes for dinner tonight.

Thank you, Mimi & Aunt Mandy - we feel so loved and Christmas-y today! (as well as enjoying the touch from home!)

Happy December 1st, everyone!